A woman who was left with permanent scarring from persistent cold sores has told how she has finally ended her months of agony – all thanks to a £8.50 liquorice balm.
Nicola Saunders, 36, from West Sussex, who suffered with cold sores from the age of five-years-old, told how she was left with scarring around her lip line from one particularly awful outbreak two years ago.
‘The sores spread up my nose and I had four of them at the same time on my lips,’ she explained. ‘My nose is also a little disfigured.
‘After that attack I was left feeling quite depressed about my cold sores as they were extremely painful. I felt I was never going to be rid of them and that I didn’t have any control over them.’
However, Nicola found an unlikely solution in the form of a liquorice balm, which she claims started working almost immediately – and the sore she was anticipating never broke, and instead disappeared after a few days.
Nicola Saunders (pictured, cold-sore free), 36, West Sussex, who was left with permanent scarring from cold sores, has claimed she found an unlikely solution in the form of a £9 liquorice balm
The marketing manager told how she had suffered with cold sores (pictured) since the age of five-years-old
Nicola says her older brother was born with a cleft palate and was in and out of hospital a lot.
‘After being exposed to many operations around the mouth we think he contracted herpes from the hospital and then passed the virus onto to me and my mum,’ explained the marketing manager.
‘I cried when I got my first cold sore as I’d seen my brother suffer so much with them, then my mum; I thought I had got away with it but then it was my turn.’
Nicola has praised the £8.50 balm for helping her cold sores to disappear
When she first had cold sores, Nicola felt ’embarrassed and ugly’ and people would stare at her mouth before looking at her.
‘We all went to the doctors about our cold sores but back then there was nothing on the market really other than Zovirax, which didn’t really work,’ she explained.
Over the years, Nicola has been prescribed tablets by the doctor and has even tried several homeopathic remedies.
‘I also tried to use Bepanthen but it actually prolonged the healing time,’ she said. ‘Nothing really worked so I came to the sorry conclusion that leaving the cold sores to just do their thing and suffering the pain and embarrassment was the only way for me.
Nicola (pictured) found an unlikely solution in the form of a liquorice balm, which she claims started working almost immediately
At school, Nicola says she was often bullied over her cold sores – but she refused to take sick days just because the other kids were mean to her. Pictured, with a live cold sore before using the balm
At school, Nicola says she was often bullied over her cold sores – but she refused to take sick days just because the other kids were mean to her.
‘As a teenager my cold sores really affected my confidence as I was going out more and starting to date,’ she explained.
‘My cold sores have got progressively worse over the years. I get them whenever I’m run down, exposed to high and extreme cold temperatures or have a cold, which is most of the winter. I’ll typically get 5-6 bad cold sore outbreaks over a winter.’
Nicola says her partner doesn’t cope well when she has a cold sore and tends to just steer clear of her when she has a live one.
‘Once it’s gone and we can kiss again, things go back to normal,’ she explained . ‘My biggest fear these days is whether I will get a cold sore outbreak on a special occasion like a wedding or even worse, whilst on holiday.’
In time, Nicola says she stumbled on a review about LipQ Liquorice Balm.
‘This balm has been trialled by the Herpes Virus Association so I ordered some as I’d had quite a few cold sore outbreaks before Christmas and was expecting more,’ she explained.
‘The very first time I used the Liquorice Balm just after Christmas, it was on a particularly nasty emerging post-Christmas cold sore.’
‘It took the tingling away almost immediately, so I applied some again before bedtime. The next morning both the swelling and the pain had massively reduced.’
She continued: ‘Usually with an emerging cold sore, before it bursts, the burning sensation takes over and then the swelling makes me look like I’ve have done a few rounds with Mike Tyson.’
‘After leaving the balm on overnight I woke with just a small lump, which seemed to have dried out and was relatively painless. Normally I’d wake up with a red, swollen and throbbing lip and dread going into work.’
Nicola says she cannot believe how quickly the balm worked on conquering her cold sores. Pictured, cold sore free in March
Two months on, Nicola claims she hasn’t had a cold sore since she started using the balm. Pictured, cold sore free in February 2020
A delighted Nicola says she cannot believe how quickly the balm worked on conquering her cold sores.
‘What would have normally ended up in an open sore for about a week or more barely surfaced and was gone in a few days,’ she explained. ‘Even my partner said he could hardly see it when I had my make-up on.’
Now, it’s been two months since Nicola has been applying the balm, and she is yet to develop a new live cold sore.
‘The weather has been dreadful and I’ve been quite run down with colds so that’s pretty miraculous in my book,’ she said. ‘I’ve been raving to all my friends and family about this balm.’
‘Time will tell and I don’t want to get too excited that I’ve found a ‘cure’ but so far the balm seems to have stopped my winter cold sores in their tracks as normally I’d have had several outbreaks by now.’